Martello Tower Virtual Reconstruction

Laser scan to interactive VR experience

“The new Virtual Reality tour makes the tower accessible to anyone, transporting them back in time to see exactly what life may have been like. The reconstruction of those periods are incredible in their accuracy and function. It’s been fantastic to be able to work in partnership with Luminous Group to bring the Towers back to life in this way.”

Bill Jenman, Project Manager – Touching the Tide

Background

Luminous were commissioned by the Suffolk Coast & Heaths as part of their Touching the Tide project to create a virtual model and interactive experience of a Martello Tower.

These small defensive forts are common across the South East coast however access to the public is limited and many don’t know the history of them.

To this end, they decided to create an informative interactive virtual experience.

Process

To build the experience and make it as authentic as possible the trust decided to 3D laser scan 2 sample towers and use the data from these as the basis for the virtual model.

The brief was to create a virtual tour showing what these forts were like when they originally built in the Napoleonic era and again when repurposed for WW2.

We carried out extensive historical research to make sure that any assets and artefacts used to dress the scenes were historically correct.